Garlic Presses Are the Devil

There is something addictively satisfying about pushing a clove of garlic through a garlic press. The pop when it goes through. The intense garlic aroma that immediately manifests. The smug feeling of satisfaction you get when you think about how you don't need to dirty a cutting board and a knife.

These seemingly pleasant sensations? They're a trap. Don't fall for it. Because garlic presses are actually the worst. Here's why:

Garlic Presses Make Your Food Taste Bad

It's a paradox: The smaller the pieces of garlic are, the more intensely the garlic flavor will be dispersed throughout a dish. Toss in a couple whole cloves into a sauce, and you'll get a delicate garlicky perfume. Add those same cloves after they've been crushed through a press, and the super-intense garlic taste can overpower your food. Plus, when sautéed in oil, those tiny specks of garlic go from raw to scorched so fast that there's barely time for them to mellow from the heat.

When I cook with garlic, I usually either cut it into thin slices, which are perfect for flavoring sautéed greens, or give it a quick mince with my chef's knife or a microplane (more on that below). But if I need to make a garlic paste for say, a vinaigrette, my preferred method is to give it a quick chop, sprinkle it with coarse salt, and then use the side of my knife to scrape it against the cutting board until it collapses into a paste. The garlic flavor is still strong, but not overpowering the way pressed garlic can be. (I would also infinitely prefer to clean a knife and a cutting board than a garlic press—see below.)

Garlic Presses Are Not the Fastest Way to Mince Garlic

The fastest way to add minced garlic to a dish is actually to grate it with a microplane. I can add grated garlic to a yogurt sauce for shawarma or a marinade in seconds, and it's easier to control the amount you add to your dish than when using a garlic press. Just remember: those little garlic specks pack a punch no matter what, so start with a small amount, like half a clove of grated garlic, and then taste as you go to make sure you don't add too much.

Garlic Presses Are a B*#$% to Clean

Garlic presses suck you in with a promise of efficiency—I'm going to pulverize six cloves of garlic in three seconds!—that never really delivers. Sure, pushing a garlic clove through those tiny metal holes is quick, but you know what's not quick? Getting all that leftover garlic gunk out of those tiny little holes. Garlic presses are impossible to clean. And I always end up ruining a knife tip by trying to use it to poke out all those stuck garlic bits. Which never works anyway. (Yeah, yeah, some garlic presses come with a little cleaning tool—but that tiny thing will get lost the first time you use it.)

Garlic Presses Take Up Valuable Kitchen Space

Unlike your veggie peeler, your digital thermometer, and of course, your microplane, the garlic press is a one-trick pony that doesn't deserve kitchen-drawer real estate. But if you already have a garlic press and insist on using it, for god's sake please don't bother to peel the garlic clove before inserting it into the press. Save yourself the time—you'll need it later for cleaning that damn contraption.